All Brad Corley knew was that he enjoyed a weekend trip back to his home state and played the best baseball series of his Mississippi State career. When he saw on the computer screen Monday afternoon that the Collegiate Baseball magazine had named him national player of the week, it was just icing on the cake.
Even before the weekend series at Kentucky, Corley said he felt good about traveling to play against the school that he turned down to come to MSU. Five homeruns later, we knew he wasn’t kidding.
Neither were Corley’s teammates when they told him of his honor.
“I was just flipping through the Internet,” he said. “Some of the guys on the team had mentioned it. I saw it, and I was just amazed.”
Corley, from Louisville, Ky., said about 40 of his family members came to Lexington to see him play. He didn’t disappoint them.
In addition to his five long balls, Corley smashed a double and two singles to show off for his relatives.
“I hadn’t seen a lot of them in close to a year,” the sophomore recalled. “If I could pick any weekend to do it, it would definitely be that one. Just to put on that kind of show in front of my family was awesome.”
After his second Saturday homerun tied the game in the ninth inning against the Wildcats-a game the Bulldogs would win-Corley’s teammates didn’t even feel the need to congratulate him after each round-tripper because it had become too routine.
“The guys on the team, they were just messing with me,” he said. “After I hit seven or eight, they just stopped coming out of the dugout.”
Eight of Corley’s 10 season homers came in a nine-day span, dating back to the Saturday match-up against Mississippi. He then went yard Sunday against the Rebels and again on Wednesday at Southern Mississippi.
But it was only a few weeks prior to that when Corley found himself in a slump. Knowing his swing needed work, he spent some time in the batting cage with head coach Ron Polk and hitting coach Tommy Raffo.
“I think he’s made some adjustments by staying back a little and not jumping at the ball,” Polk said. “As long as his stroke stays short, he’ll continue to hit some balls out.”
Polk, who recruited Corley, has placed him in right field and has given him some mound work as well.
“He’s a legit duel guy,” Polk said.
And that’s why he recruited him, but Corley said his final decision on where to go to college was between State and Kentucky. He listed all the usuals when referring to the deciding factors: Coach Polk, the atmosphere, the stadium.
That last one should come as a surprise. Dudy Noble Field, Polk-DeMent Stadium is one of the biggest ballparks in the SEC. Unlike Corley, it wasn’t built for homeruns.
“Homeruns will come, I guess,” he said. “I’m just trying to hit the ball hard.”
Thanks to the muscle Corley’s put on since his freshman year, just hitting the ball hard hasn’t been a problem. The right fielder said he added 15 pounds over the off-season and has gone up a bat size.
For the record, Corley also became the SEC Player of the Week. Already with two hits Wednesday against Mississippi, he can try to defend both titles playing against Florida this weekend.